Illegal Immigration: Effects on America

*What if Mexico’s population doubled in size because of illegal immigrants coming from Guatemala? *What if the President of the United States gave executive order that all 11 million illegal immigrants living in the US were to become legal citizens? *What if your child wanted to go to an out of state university, but the cost was too grand, but you found that an illegal immigrant was allowed in state tuition for the same university?

The Mexican government is very strict when it comes to illegal immigrants coming through their borders, especially through the Guatemala-Mexico border. Unlike the United States, letting 11 millions illegal immigrant stay in the country, the Mexican government only allows 15,000 undocumented immigrants to come into their country for work. With over 400,000 immigrants crossing the Guatemala-Mexico border each year, and with hundreds daily crossing the US-Mexico border, what happens to the additional illegals entering Mexico? They are deported or if they choose to stay and if they are caught they are sent to prison. Mexico has no tolerance for illegal immigrants in their country.

Illegal immigrants affect the United States economy everyday. An example of this is our education system. Schools get paid by the number of students sitting in desks. The more students, the more money the school receives. Illegal immigrant children go to school too, but where does this money come from to pay for the student? The tax payers. So the parents who are already paying for their children to go to school, are also having to pay for the illegal immigrant children who is also attending that school. Schools receive their money through tax dollars, most of which are paid via property taxes from residents in that particular district. When students come in through sources of rentals or out of district students this puts an additional burden on the residence of the families that live within the district. I wish to stress that it is important for every child to get the proper education, but when this extra burden is added to the legal citizens and taxpayers it may it difficult especially in economic times as we are dealing with today.

The situation with schools is very similar to the problem that are in hospitals. If I were to get hurt, say, a broken arm, and I had to go to the hospital, it would cost hundreds of dollars just to walk through the doors and get help with insurance. However, if an illegal immigrant was to go into the hospital for the same reason, a broken arm, they often times may not been able to pay the hospital because they do not have insurance. So, who pays for their broken arm? The hospital can not deny helping them, this is a complicated situation, but it is reality. The hospital still needs the money for fixing that broken arm. So the taxpayers and persons that pay for insurance are responsible for the payment on those that can not afford to pay or do not have insurance. This is especially a problem is Arizona since we are a border state. Often times this causes some hospitals to close.

Going to any university is costly for many families. In state tuition in Arizona is over $10,000 a year, if you are an out of state student that cost can double. Being an in state student means you have lived in the community for at least a year. Paying taxes and being a productive member of the local society. I ask how is it fair that someone that is not here legally and does not live in the community, has not paid taxes get the same opportunity as some who may have just come here from another country? If I want to go to a California university as an American citizen why do I have to pay more for tuition than an incoming student from any other country?

Our country needs to address the topic of illegal immigration no matter what country they may come from. They are many legally born citizens here that were brought by their parents that came illegally. This is a delicate subject. We need to secure our borders and devise a plan and make laws that we as a country are willing to enforce, so that all people know the rules and laws of the United State of America.

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Thank you so much for writing this article. I spent a lot of my life in Arizona, and the problem was incredibly evident. By the time I moved, whites were a minority in my town, and even still I was denied numerous scholarships because I was white. This summer, I attempted to debate SB1070 with some people at a scholar camp in Indiana, but they said that it is our moral duty to take care of them. However, as much as we would like to help them, we simply cannot. Tucson is going bankrupt partly due... (more »)